16 THE VERSE OF STONING

thee to forget, we bring a better or its like [Suratu'l-Baqara (ii) 100]. Two arguments are advanced by Muslims to this effect:—

(1) In the 'Kitabu'l-Yanbu' ibn Zafar denies that the verse is abrogated in text. 'The witness of one man, (i.e. 'Umar),' he says, 'does not prove that the verse is genuine. The truth is that the verse is of the category of the to-be-forgotten and not the to-be-abrogated verses, the difference between the two categories being that a verse which may be made forgotten exists in effect.' We cannot, however, reconcile this with the fact that the verse in question was remembered, and that by more than one of the Companions.

(2) If God really wanted the verse to be forgotten, He would of course have abrogated its effect. But in this case we see that though the text has been dropped, its sentence still survives, and has been repeatedly applied to adulterers.

This proves that Muhammad was not 'caused to forget' the verse, but simply disliked the recording of it, and he consequently discouraged 'Umar from recording it, and pushed Ubai in his chest when the latter asked him to recite it to him. Ibn Majah said that the remainder of Suratu'l-Ahzab (xxxiii) was written on a leather roll and placed underneath the bed of the Prophet. When Muhammad died, 'Ayesha accompanied his funeral to the grave, and on her return she found that a goat had eaten the roll with all

IN THE QUR'AN 17

the inspired verses it contained, including this same Verse of Stoning! Apart from the strangeness of this story, it is yet another clear proof that the verse actually existed in writing till the very death of Muhammad. How then can it be alleged that he was 'caused to forget it'? He, in fact, remembered it only too well, and so did many of his Companions.